MK

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) received  67 students of the Law Faculty, University of Indonesia (UI), on Thursday, October 16, 2025. The students were welcomed by Bisariyadi, Senior Expert Assistant to Constitutional Justice.      

In his presentation, Bisariyadi—often called Bisar—began by explaining how the establishment of the Court has made the study of Constitutional Law (Hukum Tata Negara or HTN) in Indonesia more dynamic and progressive. “Since the Court was established in 2003, the field of constitutional law has significantly developed. The Court’s decisions have become important academic references and subjects of scholarly discussion,” he explained.

According to Bisar, constitutional law often intersects with politics, making it difficult to separate the two in discussions. He noted that constitutional law becomes even more intriguing when viewed through the Constitutional Court’s decisions. He cited, for instance, the Court’s recent ruling on the Law on the Public Housing Savings (UU Tapera) as a case with broad implications.

In that decision, Bisar explained, the Court introduced the term “core article” (pasal jantung), referring to provisions requiring mandatory participation in Tapera that contradict the voluntary nature of savings. Because the substantive norms of the Tapera Law were declared unconstitutional, the law effectively lost its essence. He added that another concept emerging from Court jurisprudence is “open legal policy,” which was not widely known before.

Bisar stated that the ideas of the core article and open legal policy could serve as interesting subjects for further study and development in Constitutional Law. “The problem in Indonesia is that very few people pay attention to such issues,” said Bisar. Another intriguing area of Constitutional Law study, he added, concerns interpreting the Constitution in relation to long-standing legal norms. Bisar illustrated this by questioning how constitutional interpretation should consider academic drafts from as far back as 1996, whether constitutional interpretation follows the same approach as general legal interpretation, and what methods should be applied in interpreting the Constitution. He encouraged students to sharpen their analytical skills and think critically.

Furthermore, Bisar explained that in the judicial review process, several parties are involved, namely the Petitioner and the Statement Providers—in this case, the President and the House of Representatives (DPR). “There are no opposing parties in a judicial review case. Additionally, the Related Parties are those heard during the proceedings, while the presence of amicus curiae, whether individuals or organizations, plays a different role from the main parties in the hearing,” he elaborated.

Author       : Ilham W.M
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Jessica Rivena Meilania/Donny Yuniarto

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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